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Friday, October 13, 2006

Friday the 13th on the QBall

Rode the Burr Farm today for the first time in over a year! Actually rode there on Wednesday but got such a lousy GPS track that I am ashamed to post it. Not sure why I stopped riding here but since meeting a new contact from Newtown Bridal Lands Association (NBLA) with whom I am going to work on a new trail in the Upper Paugussett State Forest, told me he has been doing quite a bit of work in this area for horse back riding. So, I figured I should have a look at what he has done. All I can say is WOW! Its a nice subtle mix of single and dual track. Once you get into the main area, the trails tend to be dual track, they look like old ATV trails that didn't get too abused.

I followed the red tape in, which you pick up off Pond Brook and parallels the stream for a bit and then climbs up gradually and eventually you come up to a field. Trail goes through the field and then hits a big intersection where one of the trails crosses over Dinglebrook and goes somewhere I have never explored. The red tape continues off to the west and then turns north and hooks around into that first loop you see on the map above.

The second loop, which almost looks like a bowtie, is the Brookfield Burr Farm Open Space trail. My recommendation is if you are going to ride it, do so clockwise from this map because getting to the bench at Dinglebrook that way has many, many steep descents. So going the other way would mean these descents turn into serious hike-a-bikes. The climb from the bench, is pretty do-able. I think there were only two places where I had to walk due to roots and rocks and not having enough momentum to get through the tech.

That's the thing with 29ers. Its all about the momentum. The slower you go, the harder it is to get through the techy stuff because the tire has to roll farther. When you got the momentum, you roll right through. Now, if I had a suspension fork up front, I think that would be somewhat alleviated because the compression of the shock would allow the wheel to adjust more evenly and quickly to the imaginary plain over the uneven terrain and thus roll even better through the tech. Guess that is one of the drawbacks to riding rigid.

Coming back, I followed the Yellow Tapes back to the field and then picked up the red back to Pond Brook. On my way home I saw a mountain biker working on his bike at the boat ramp so I stopped to talk to him. Turns out he used to work for Cannondale and new some of the people that I knew. Suggested that he join NEMBA but he wasn't interested. Too bad I didn't have any cards on me. Then, Tom from NBLA showed up and we were finally able to meet face to face. We had a nice chat about Burr Farm and what we are going to do for the new trail.